tourist

When possible, skip the purse! Do you really need a lot of stuff a lot of the time? Just carry a thin wallet in a pocket like most men do, and you don't have to guard your purse all the time.

Katja

Great idea. It would be even greater if more women's clothing included pockets.

Fornebufox

Um, not everyone, everywhere. Granted, I'd be cautious about some random strange male chatting me up, but I don't automatically assume everyplace is as threatening as, say Delhi.

CDTraveler

+1

flyquiet

Interesting thread. My perspective is a little "enhanced" (as we say in the Air Canada thread). In addition to the women-traveller thing, I am deaf and also have Aspergers so I have no idea what people are on about or what is going on most of the time, but by now I do have some coping strategies. I don't want to be so paranoid that it comes across as rude, but also don't want to be clueless. (Once years ago, thinking of myself as a mature lady, I had been amused by the antics of a group of teen boys on a Stockholm subway once and by the time I reached my stop, I think some of them thought I'd been making eyes at them, and for my peace of mind, I had to hold up and ensure that they got ahead of me and didn't go the direction I needed to go.)

In a hotel lobby, I will contrive to backtrack my steps to deal with something I've "forgotten" and let the sole man or group of men take the elevator themselves without offending them by seeming to be distrustful of them. I have a terrible taxi phobia - I was taught never to get into a car with a strange man, and darnit, that's exactly what a taxi is. I can't unlearn that rule, unfortunately, no matter that it's been (mumble) years since I was that little girl. I will take ground transport shared services (and pray to be not the last drop), mass transit, or even walk (such as 2 miles to the mall nearest my hotel). I will sometimes rent a car. Maybe once a year, I will take a taxi from a taxi stand at the airport or train station queue, and only if I have exhausted every other option. Taking a taxi usually traumatizes me to the point where I have to spend four hours away from people to decompress.

I will spend time before a trip researching the routes, fares, schedules, pickup points, Google Earth images, so I am in a "familiar" place. I can't phone 911 or any other kind of help, so I have to feel confident that I am going to be self sufficient. I'll find a route for running, and I will plan walking to shop or sightsee and the up side is that I'll get more familiar with the place I'm visiting than I would if I was taking a taxi.

I am +1 on the purse alertness thing but because I don't hear, I am always watching everywhere for safety clues, interpersonal clues, situation dynamics. I'd like to do without a purse but I seem to have so much in it. Something to think about. But with hotel safes getting ripped off, maybe it's a 50:50 proposition to leave the bag in the room.

My other "woman" thing is I have a great deal of difficulty eating out when I travel. If there is a McDonald's there, I will find it. I will hate it, but I will know how it works, I won't have to talk to anyone, and I will be confident that I am not allergic to it. I am sure they're just being ingratiating in pursuit of tips, but I always feel patronized when I try to get over myself and go to a menu-service restaurant, and I end up not enjoying it. I can't call room service, because of course I am deaf and hotels just can't deal with it. (One great hotel last year had a concierge on email who got me room service dinner. I love him or her for that. It's by far the exception in my experience.)

So, whoever is a timid traveller, just think, it could be worse :-) I enjoy the strategies from the road warriors, even though some I know I will never be able to try. Keep sharing!

scoow

I'll admit I have never had this problem. But is it possible to stop by the front desk & ask them to help you order room service? Or ask that they send a room service "waiter" to your room so you can place an order? There should be some way to order a meal, even if you can't use the phone.

jerseygirl

[QUOTE=flyquiet;19963253]

I will spend time before a trip researching the routes, fares, schedules, pickup points, Google Earth images, so I am in a "familiar" place. I can't phone 911 or any other kind of help, so I have to feel confident that I am going to be I can't call room service, because of course I am deaf and hotels just can't deal with it. (One great hotel last year had a concierge on email who got me room service dinner. I love him or her for that. It's by far the exception in my experience.)

Hi flyquiet
My sister is also deaf and I have friends who are deaf so I understand your problems
But for 911 you can call and not need to respond or possibly practicea response such as help deaf

I think your idea of email for room service is brilliant for all!!! Hope hotels will start this.

Keep on traveling and hope you meet only kind generous people!!!

flyquiet

Yes, I often do change out of my PJs and back into presentable clothes and go to the lobby to ask them to put in my order for me. I also have to do that to get them to stop the message light flashing when it's that "welcome to the hotel, come enjoy our many boozeries" or whatever that message is, because the flashing light bothers my sleep. Otherwise I put a pillow on top of it. I just hope my room isn't miles from the lobby, because it's a lot of rigamarole. Now that I have NEXUS, I am avoiding bringing cereal bars in my suitcase ("food" to declare) so there goes my fallback dinner: two cereal bars. I hope other hotels do pick up the email concierge idea. Or even twitter concierge. I don't mind my tweeps knowing what I am having for dinner as long as I don't have to tweet my room number.

On 911, I have perfect speech. If you met me, you would not believe that I am deaf. But I won't know when they pick up at the other end. (Discovered that once when my car failed on the highway, right next to a phone box.) Also my iPhone is set to block voice calls because they are only ever wrong numbers. I am not sure if I can call out to 911 on the Emergency Call feature, but there is no acceptable way to test it! We can always hope I am mugged near a pay phone :-o

CDTraveler

flyquiet do you have a mobile device with any sort of fax capability? In my area (near PHL) a number of decent restaurants now offer take out ordering via fax - fax in the order, they prepare and pack it and you pick it up and dine where you are comfortable. Some also offer ordering via the web.

If you combined various Internet tools, you could use Yelp or Yahoo Local to find a restaurant near your daytime location, send in your order via fax or web and then pick up the meal en route back to your hotel. Would that be helpful to you?

CDTraveler

Well, if all I needed was ID and money, that might work. But as my purse also holds my glasses (critical for reading, useless for driving), asthma inhaler, Kleenex, gluten-free high protein snack bars, medications my son needs on a regular basis, my phone and a few other items my pockets just aren't big enough.

flyquiet

I don't think I have fax capability on the mobile. Also, I am always roaming so the phone is usually on lockdown. That's an interesting idea though... Even pick up and carry out would just be a short wait.

Consultette

Grubhub is a lifesaver for me. You don't even need a fax number - there is an app for it or you can order on their website. You can read reviews of restuarants, check out the menu, and order food online. No need for a fax or phone call! You can order ahead of time for both pickup and delivery. I have used it many times and love it.

Chipotle also has an app and I believe their website has the functionality to order food for pickup as well. You simply select the nearest location (the app even calculates the distance and shows you which is closest!), order your food, and pick it up. I typically use it to order ahead and dine in the restaurant. Not once have I had a problem with them making my order wrong.

There is also "Snapfinger" which I used to use a lot when I was in Cali more (similar to grub hub) and Dominos has an app where you can order food and track it with their pizza tracker (no joke, I love it!).

Hopfully these provide you with a few more options. I am one of those people that would really rather streamline my day and tend to rely on my apps for everything. These are some of my favorite I have come across.

CDTraveler

Ain't technology wonderful?

flyquiet

Those are tempting apps!

mg10461

I have to say that some of this seems odd to me. Any place I travel in europe is probably safer than my home bases of NY, NJ and Baltimore. I think there are some sensible things you should do if you are traveling to the middle east (no shorts, bring or buy a head covering) but I have been in more scrapes and near misses on my home turf than in copenhagen. A woman is no more or less likely than a man to be robbed (according to the crime statistics). Taking a "hack" or gypsy cab in brooklyn is not likely to be less dangerous than taking a cab - well - almost anywhere.

Travel in some parts of central and south america and some parts of africa are dangerous. Everyone should take similar precautions in those places.